In the middle of 1916 the Military Command of Germany placed order with several companies for building special fighter with floats. The aircraft of this type was needed to protect naval bases along the Flanders Goast. The Albatros Flugzeugwerke, which at that moment started production of Albatros D.I fighter, very quickly re-developed D.I.'s design to the naval requirements. Fuselage construction remained the same, however the wings area, as well as the gap between the wings, increased. The configuration of the tail plane unit also changed and undercarriage was revised for floats installation.